Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?”– Matthew 18.21

We know Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question. Seventy times seven times. That’s always. In the Our Father we ask God to forgive us as we forgive others every time we pray it–scary. Forgiveness may not be our first impulse when someone hurts us. We may want to strike back or perhaps just nurse festering resentment, or perhaps like Peter we want to count. This is not God’s way or Jesus’ way.

The parable that follows Peter’s question and Jesus’ answer is about the servant who owes his master a big debt that a generous master forgives. Then the forgiven servant insists a fellow servant pay a debt of 100 denarii, refuses pleas for patience, and puts the fellow servant in prison. The master finds out and hands the unforgiving servant over to be tortured. The parable challenges us to recognize God’s expansive love and mercy and make room for growth and grace in our relationships.

How has making room for grace and growth helped you forgive others or yourself?

“Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.”– Matthew 10.32

Jesus’ saying turns on the principle of reciprocity. Jesus will treat us the way we treat others. We recognize this principle every time we pray the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The saying challenges us to be public witnesses of Jesus’ way.

The early Christians lived in the shadow of the Roman Empire, which considered their faith illegal. Today Christians live in a capitalist economy gone global that considers religion irrelevant. The revenue of many multi-national corporations rivals the gross national product of nation states. Yet, corporations have no obligation to uphold Christian values or human rights as nations do, only to profit stockholders.

Catholic social teaching challenges us to live Jesus’ message in our public and corporate lives. People are not commodities. They have dignity and rights, including the right to a living wage and health care. Are our senators and representatives in the 117th Congress thinking about treating people who need Medicaid the way they want to be treated? Do they realize people like my sister, diabetic since she was 22 for whom the cost of insulin has skyrocketed, face being unable to afford the medicines that keep her alive even with insurance?

Jesus said, “Say this when you pray: Father, may you name be held holy; your kingdom come…”

Jesus encourages us to pray for “the kingdom,” the vision he has for a just and loving society and world. To pray that God’s name be hallowed and that God’s kingdom come is to acknowledge that all barriers to love must be dissolved. Anything that separates race from race, rich from poor, gender from gender, age group from age group, Christian from non-Christian is a barrier to the holiness God wishes to share with believers. Biases have no place in the community that names God our father. Especially as protests and politics set us against one another, we must cherish all we have in common and respect one another.

Make today a day to act out the Our Father and talk with folks who seem different from yourself. Pray for someone with whom you are angry or hurt.